May 6, 12019 – Our time machine travels back to the nuclear nightmare at the Soviet Union’s V.I. Lenin Nuclear Power Station — as destined to fail, as the political system of its namesake. On April 26, 1986, Reactor No. 4 exploded, and in the 30 years since, a name that few in the world could have placed, has become synonymous with radioactive Armageddon. What really happened? Communist propaganda long obscured the story of the accident behind the Iron Curtain. Here with his Geiger counter to tally the cost and causes is Adam Higginbotham, who brings us, Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster. Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews as well as letters, unpublished memoirs, and recently declassified archives, Higginbotham has written the true history at last in a book that reads like a thriller. You’ve seen our guest’s work in The New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, Wired, GQ, and Smithsonian. Find him online at AdamHigginbotham.com or @HigginbothamA on Twitter. Podcast: Download (Duration: 55:19 — 126.6MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | RSS | More

May 1, 2017 – This week, our time machine touches down at the height of the Red Scare, in the Oval Office of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose public stance of ignoring Senator Joseph McCarthy’s descent into demagoguery — refusing even to mention his name — has long been cited by historians as proof that the old World War Two general just didn’t care. Some even dared call the former Supreme Allied commander, a coward. After his death, Ike’s strategy would be revealed and dubbed “the hidden hand.” He felt that to attack McCarthy straight-on would raise his statue within the Republican party and the nation, and ultimately be counterproductive. The book that sets the record straight is Ike and McCarthy: Dwight Eisenhower’s Secret Campaign against Joseph McCarthy, by David A. Nichols, a leading expert on the Eisenhower presidency. You can dig into our guest’s other works and thoughts on history, on Twitter @DavidANichols8. Podcast: Download (Duration: 51:32 — 117.9MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | RSS | More

March 20, 2017 – This week, we meet a man born Albrecht Dittrich in East Germany, who infiltrated the U.S. as a KGB agent at the height of the Cold War — and in the decades since, Barsky’s life has taken all the twists and turns you’d expect from a fictional spy thriller. From ardent communist to patriotic American citizen. From unquestioning atheist, to agnostic, to the witnessing Christian he is today. Jack’s book is literally like no other. It’s titled, Deep Undercover: My Secret Life and Tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America. Learn more about his story at JackBarsky.com. Podcast: Download (Duration: 51:27 — 117.8MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | RSS | More

February 29, 2016 – Our time machine for this trip is tricked out like James Bond’s Aston Martin, and we’re speeding back to the height of the Cold War. Our driver on this journey is Paddy Hayes, who was kind enough to call into the show from Dublin, Ireland. His book is Queen of Spies: Daphne Park, Britain’s Cold War Spy Master. Until this book, no biography has been written about Daphne Park’s incredible contributions to the crown at a time when the intelligence services were still very closed to women. From helping prepare for the D-Day landings to shoring up the Falkland Islands’ defense, her adventures included being thrown into a pit, swimming the chilly Volga River to escape the KGB, and threats of execution. “I must have been arrested and condemned to be shot several times,” she said. “It was a hazard that I got used to.” Daphne Park was Britain’s top woman spy, the most senior lady in MI6, a spitfire who people said once met, was never forgotten. Podcast: Download (Duration: 35:25 — 32.4MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | RSS | More